The Good Soldier
by Dorminchu
Summary: They say his death was just an accident. And it was. But that's only the half of it. Two-shot.
1. Marco

Trost is the death of innocence.

There they are, an army of frightened children, boys and girls on the cusp of adulthood. They turn to chaos in the wake of their new reality; with the death of officers and comrades the ranks quickly crumble into panicked disorder.

The monsters these child soldiers have learned to combat are simple, human necessities. They know of starvation and exhaustion, and faulty manoeuvre gear or a good tongue-lashing from an instructor; perhaps the worst of situations involve deportation to the fields to die a slow, pathetic death.

Then suddenly Krieg, the captain of the squad, is screaming because his arm and half his body is gone and he flails as his tiny body is dragged down by the tightly closed jaws of a Titan with eyes as big as the windows of the house his compatriots are standing on with their swords drawn and their legs immobile. And his blood sprays through the air, and he's likely pissing himself in shock and some of the blood comes up through his mouth before he is gone. Nobody knows what to do with this.

They don't cope, they don't move on. They run for it or shut down or scream or kill themselves because there's nothing. And some chase after it, seeking revenge and run out of gas, crash instead, or another Titan kills them.

There is no easy way out.

For those as lucky as Marco Bodt, there is salvation in the footsteps of surviving comrades, but no peace. Always, the stench of death clogs his nostrils. Air coagulates till he can nearly taste the copper and the bile in the back of his throat.

He wonders as he flies alongside his fellow soldiers, as if in a dream, if he will live to see to-morrow. If anyone will. Their instruction has been child's play, and everything they've been taught is all but meaningless next to the gaping maw of a Titan.

He remembers Krieg. Eren Jaeger and Mina Carolina and Mylius Zeramunski, Nac Tias and Tomas Wagner. They're dead, too. He'll never know how or when. He remembers how Armin wept over the profession and didn't look at anyone. He counts the names of those who are still alive: _Mikasa Ackerman, Jean Kirstein, Armin Arlert, Bertholdt, Annie, Reiner Braun, Sasha, Connie Springer, Krista Lenz…_ he knows there are more. There must be more than that, but he's flying through the air in pursuit of Mikasa and he almost crashes and someone admonishes him upon landing, maybe Jean, he isn't sure. It's probably Jean, because of the tone. The words are only white noise.

 _At least it wasn't me who was killed_ , Marco thinks, and hates himself for it.

* * *

The acquisition of gas is the saviour of their morale; the revelation of Eren's true nature is what keeps them all staring at his unconscious body as Mikasa clings to him, weeping like a child. He's covered in blood, in slime and burns. Armin creeps over and holds his hand. No one knows what to say.

Until Eren stirs, speaks, slurry and dreamlike:

" _'m_ _goin't_ _kill 'em_."

Mikasa actually lets him go in horror, grabs his shoulders and holds him at arm's length, shaking him a little. His head droops onto his chin and he's mumbling under his breath. He sounds almost…happy, dazed, like he's half-asleep.

Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie exchange grave looks. Jean recovers first, barks that they need to get this idiot to someone who can manage him.

Marco takes it all in and doesn't know what to think.

As a group they take Eren to the lift and watch him go alongside Mikasa and Armin.

The Garrison officers swear the rest of them to secrecy and the group makes it way down the other side of Wall Rose.

* * *

The rest of the time is spent waiting for news. Connie explains over and over the oath they've taken while Sasha remains steadfast by his side. Marco counts those whom he recognises. _Ymir_ , he thinks. _That was a name I forgot._

And Daz.

Daz, who shouldn't have become a soldier. Daz, who now begs to be released, killed, whatever it takes, he can't do this again, vomiting up what little sustenance remains inside him out of despair. Marco tries to comfort him but he's brushed aside, then smacked away with trembling hands. He abandons Daz somewhat unwillingly, goes to find the rest of the 104th who welcome his presence in silence.

There's a strange kind of comfort, despite the new horrors of war, in that silent connection. They, who have lived and learned and fought together, now survive together. How many days will they survive? How many of them will suffer the same fate as Krieg?

Ten minutes later there's an echoing _BOOM_ like a cannon blast and Reiner, Annie and Jean all shoot for the rooftops. Marco follows and for the third time that day, he's speechless at the sight before him.

The officers are on the roof, too, shouting, but there are at least a dozen soldiers up now, all gazing down as the giant, smoking skeleton crumbles to ash.

Armin's voice rings out through the silence, met by Kitz's. Back and forth, the argument rises. When it's cut short, mercifully, the cadets are shepherded down to earth and this time there is no oath that can be given.

Within the hour Commander Pixis tells them of their new mission and they're split into groups, sent back to the hell they have only just escaped.

So it is that Marco finds himself alongside Jean and Annie. Eren's Titan is somewhere within Trost, lugging the boulder to the hole, or so he hopes. Distantly he hears screams and roars and the thud of giant footsteps.

There are a few Titans up ahead, so they split up to combat the threat. Marco, true to form, stays back and attempts to draw the biggest one's attention. Jean and Annie attack the smaller one. The first goes down easy; the second, though, is much more dangerous—an Aberrant?—and it catches the other two off guard, sends Jean into a panic and Annie spiralling to crash upon the roof and Marco looks on in horror.

"God _dammit_!"

That's Jean. Annie's a few ranks above the pair of them and if they lose her, the situation will only get worse.

"I'll help her!" Marco shouts, and wheels back. It's a gamble, but she's a valuable teammate and given the circumstances, he hopes Jean will understand.

His feet collide with solid ground. Shaken from impact, he dashes over to her.

"Annie!" he cries, and she spins around, wide-eyed with shock, half-kneeling, and wobbles on one leg. He can't see the details but even at a distance he ascertains that there's a lot of blood. He wonders if she's broken something. "Can you stand? We need to get you to a doctor…."

She remains still, head lowered as if she does not want to face him but he can see her eyes shining with an unfamiliar emotion from beneath her pale hair. His attention, conversely, is fixed on her face…and then the thin haze of steam rising from below.

Steam. His eyes snap downwards to her wounded leg; the blood remains, but she is steady on her feet, white-faced.

Annie casts a glance around her, covering the wound as best she can and stands, slowly, does not falter on her healing limb, and Marco doesn't move. She lets her hand drift to the hilt of her blade—he recoils slightly—and says, quite calmly:

"So. I guess you've found me out."

He can only stare at her.

"Wh-what?"

"I'm one of the test subjects from the military's research." Marco's face whitens. His jaw works soundlessly and then he closes his mouth tight, but he's staring at her with something other than fear.

"Th-then, that would make you..."

Annie smiles thinly. "Yes. I'd be like Eren, wouldn't I?"

He opens his mouth to ask her another question that has barely formed in his dumbstruck head, but before he can speak she continues.

"You're the only one that knows."

"Why—" he splutters finally, "why are you telling me all this?"

"Because you're a good tactician. So we can work together for a little while."

He sizes her up, the shock of this revelation remains prevalent, but his brain is kicking back into gear. "What's your mission?"

She lets her hand stray from her blade, to hover rather than embrace the rough leather. "Classified. You can help me for now, Marco. But after I do what I have to do, this going to stay between us. You understand, don't you?" An emotion flashes across Marco's face, but it's dispelled as quickly as it comes.

"O-of course. What do we have to do?"

She straightens up, stretches her restored leg as if testing her weight.

"Follow me."

* * *

Half an hour to that conversation, Marco resumes his position upon the roof, at a loss for how to describe the emotions that are running amok in his mind. Shock, maybe. Disbelief and fear and confusion.

Annie Leonhardt, a Titan? It's almost inconceivable. But what else is he supposed to think? He can't deny what he has seen today, no matter how badly he would like to do so. He's seen Eren turn back from a mass of burning flesh into a boy and then become a burning skeleton, so why would it be so unreasonable? He wracks his brain. Is she a spy? If she and Eren are in this together, then what is her purpose? Perhaps she serves as a back-up for the Military in case Eren cannot be restrained…that makes sense. But it doesn't answer the question that burns the brightest in his mind: _can I trust her?_

He hasn't exactly gotten to know her very well; she has never been sociable, but it all pales in comparison to this terrifying discovery.

 _She_ _'s a Titan, too. How many more of her kind are hiding within the Walls?_

But he's pulled from his thoughts by the sound of his name.

"Marco!"

It's Annie's voice, choked and harsh as if gripped with fear, or pain. Startled, his heart sinking faster than his body in freefall, Marco races across the rooftops over to the source of the sound. It takes him a moment to identify her, but she's down below, standing with her back to him, doubled over, left hand clutching her side, the other supporting herself upon the wall of one of the many broken-down houses.

Is she hurt? He can't tell. She's never sounded that urgent before.

"Are you all right?" he calls. There's no reply. Maybe her leg has given out. "Hang on, I'm coming down!"

The cable shoots out, embedding itself in the wall of the dilapidated building. Concern gives way to confusion as she straightens up, then horror as he sees, almost too late, the blade flashing in her left hand. Instinct saves him though his body is frozen; he swerves and her blade connects with the side of the building, mere millimetres from where he was seconds ago.

"What—"

Annie spins round as he lands and her sword crashes once more with the wall, drawing sparks. He ducks to avoid her but she cuts his shoulder. The pain snaps him out of his trance. He notices that her hands are shaking. Why is she looking at him with fear in her eyes? She's the one with all the power in this situation.

"This was a trap, wasn't it?" he asks weakly. "You were never going to let me tell anybody." And for the first time that day Marco truly realises in that moment he's probably going to die here. A strange sound fights to escape him, not quite a laugh, more of a strangled cry. "Who else is with you?" he asks, fighting to keep calm.

For an instant her façade falters and there is true fear in her eyes. Then it's gone, and a harsh, animal sound tears from her throat, and she brings down her sword so violently it breaks.


	2. Annie

The fight is not what she had hoped it would be, quick and easy. There's hardly a fight at all, in fact, because Marco doesn't have the sense to blubber, or ask her why she's doing this and she wishes he would draw his sword or call for help. But he just looks at her in horrified comprehension and she cannot match his gaze. She wants to vomit but she can hardly breathe. He won't fight. She's almost angry with him. Fight back, you coward, she wants to scream. I just tried to kill you and you won't even defend yourself! What's wrong with you?

She's trembling so badly she can hardly hold her blade steady. Does he think she wants to do this? He knows too much for him to live another second, yet he's been naught but kind and honourable to the rest of the 104th, even her. He knows she is going to kill him and he hasn't screamed for help or her mercy.

But another part of her, hardened by war and the loss of Mina, reasons that even if he somehow survived and kept his side of the bargain, it would be far easier this way. For what kind of person could believe her if she told him the truth?

She makes up her mind and is about to move when it happens—a shadow swoops across the alley. They both see it.

 _Damn it. I've wasted enough time hesitating, and now there are reinforcements._

Her hands clench, white-knuckled and sure. She has a fraction of a second to act.

 _This is it._

She lunges towards him in the split-second between thought and reaction but someone else gets there first, shoves her back into the wall so hard the breath is knocked from her lungs and she's dizzy.

She sees the figure though her head is swimming with impact and pain. Reiner tucks him under an arm like a dead turkey and says: "Come on!"

* * *

They traverse deeper within the alley, then climb about halfway a seclusion between the buildings. Bertholdt is waiting there, looking grim.

"Reiner?" he calls.

"He overheard us talking about the Mission," Reiner says dangerously. "Dunno how much. We can't afford to take any chances." He lets Marco fall and crouches over him, pinning his hands behind his back with a single hand. Marco immediately starts struggling.

"Annie?" he gasps, "what—where are we? I don't—"

Reiner clamps his other massive hand over half of Marco's face.

"Don't you dare bite me," he growls. "You'll regret it, I swear."

Bertholdt looks from the pair on the ground to Annie.

"What happened to you?" he asks sternly.

"He saw me heal," Annie says, and refuses to look at Marco's single eye, wide with fear from within Reiner's palm. "I had to stop him."

Bertholdt nods, exhaling. "Take care of it," he says, as if she can just muster up the will without forethought.

Annie looks at him.

"Excuse me?"

"There are still a lot of Titans roaming around," says Bertholdt quietly. "It won't be difficult to make it look like an accident."

She stares a while longer, unwilling to comprehend what he's suggesting to her.

"You're joking," she says, voice trembling. She's angry, suddenly, and horrified and disgusted. "This was your mistake. Not mine."

Bertholdt looks confused, but he also looks dismayed, as though she's reacting exactly the way he feared she would.

"You say Marco saw you heal," he responds. "We can't let him go."

Does he think she doesn't know that, Annie seethes silently. "At least I wasn't stupid enough to explain the goddam plan right in front of him." Bertholdt's face goes white, eyes cold. "Is that right?" She looks from him to Reiner. "Really, what were you two thinking?"

A shadow falls across Reiner's face. In all the time Annie has known him, she's never seen him look this angry. Satisfaction twists savagely in her heart.

"This is my fault, then?" he thunders. "We're a team. I gave you a chance to fix things. I let you tail him. That was my mistake."

Annie laughs, a harsh, bark of a sound. She can't help herself.

"Is that what I am to you, a back-up plan? I wonder what you two might do without me."

Reiner glances from her to Marco's semi-conscious body, eyes narrowed. She doesn't like this look.

"You saved Connie," he accuses.

"I was acting the part," she snaps, easily.

"You shouldn't have done it," he says harshly. "That was reckless."

"You're the one who favours him," she retorts. "Consider us even."

The silence between them is lethal.

"Do you know what I think?" Reiner asks suddenly. "I think you're hesitating."

She would laugh, point out how he's been doing the exact same thing for three fucking years but her throat is tight and her mouth feels dry. Her fists curl in her pocket and she can feel nails bite skin.

"What are you?" he barks, so abruptly that Marco shudders faintly. Annie looks him dead in the eye.

"I'm a Warrior, aren't I?"

There's a longer silence where she holds his gaze and she knows that it's only taken one moment of hesitation to undo whatever they have spent five years building. This is irreparable.

Reiner grins mirthlessly. "I dunno. Seems to me that you've begun sympathizing with this filth." His expression does not falter, but his eyes flicker, for a moment, almost disheartened. "I hope for your sake, and your father's, that's I'm wrong."

But Mina's dead, she thinks, and Eren will be, once we've gotten everything we need. It's not his fault he's the Coordinate.

Marco chooses the wrong moment to wake up, choking out: "Ann—"

"Shut it!" Reiner barks, slamming Marco's head against the stone so violently there's a dull _crack_ and Marco spasms, groans drunkenly. A small spatter of dark against the stone. Reiner stares at him for a moment, breathing hard.

"We've wasted enough time arguing," Bertholdt interjects. "I'll do it."

"Not yet," Reiner growls. "I want Annie to decide where her loyalties lie."

Annie bristles, concealing her fear in her mounting anger. "You're a coward," she spits, feeling weak. "Both of you are cowards."

Reiner sneers. It looks wrong on him. "You do your duty, then. If you're so goddam fearless, if you think yourself a Warrior and you want to do right by your father, prove it to me." He's almost inhuman. "Now, Annie. Take his gear."

He drops Marco to the ground, then. His struggle is less than pitiful. Reiner's probably done most of the work for them. She shuts her eyes and thinks: _I'm sorry._

"'Nnie," Marco groans feebly, a child caught in a nightmare. "Why're you—?"

She shakes him a little harder than necessary so his head smacks the wall again. He chokes, struggling weakly. _Stop fighting, you're concussed,_ she thinks desperately, unfastening the straps and buckles with trembling fingers.

She scrambles up, clutching the steel canister to her chest. Reiner says nothing, only nods.

They let him fall, bleeding and limp, crumpling to the hot roof tiles. The back of his head is bleeding profusely, dented slightly. The Titan approaches his corpse and he can barely move, wriggling helplessly like a worm trapped above the dirt, withering in the heat of the sun. Bile rises in her dry throat, stings.

Annie doesn't watch him die, because this is war. There will be casualties. She wonders if she will ever get used to it the way Bertholdt seems to be.

And Bertholdt offers to take the gear but she clutches it to her chest like a child would a cherished toy. This is her burden, no one else's. She failed her duty as a soldier and a warrior and for that, she cannot accept his charity.

On the way back Reiner seems to falter. He's oddly quiet, though, for the rest of the day and through the night, when none of them can sleep.

It's only during the day of the mop-up, surrounded by the stink of death that he asks them what happened to Marco.

Annie bites her tongue so hard she fears she'll bleed just to mask a noise. A muscle twitches in Bertholdt's jaw.

"A Titan found him," he lies. "His gear malfunctioned. There was nothing we could have done, Reiner."

Reiner is oddly quiet. Then he says, "Jean. Does he know?"

Annie is grateful they're ahead of her because she's very quickly losing her composure, silent but wracked with guilt.

Bertholdt keeps his voice steady. "I don't know."

Reiner seems to tremble faintly for a moment, then rights himself.


End file.
